Thursday, 22 September 2016

Ljosazabojstwa - Staražytnaje licha

I don’t think there were any
bands from Belarus that I would like… until now, when Ljosazabojstwa released
their debut demo “Staražytnaje licha” through Hellthrasher Productions. This
label has really surprised me recently, I have to say. They started with plenty
of straight old school death metal albums, but many of their recent releases are
black metal with demos from bands like Gjendød and Ljosazabojstwa or Chaos Moon
EP. But this diversity in their roster works for better, I suppose, even though
most of these bands in their current roster are new to me and usually I have no
idea what should I expect from them. The same was with Ljosazabojstwa
obviously, so I am quite happy that this demo turned out to be that good,
especially for a band from country like Belarus.

It looks like Ljosazabojstwa
has everything to capture the attention of raw sounding, mystical death / black
metal maniacs. This is how I would personally describe “Staražytnaje licha”.
They have everything to interest you, because each song brings some truly
great, memorable parts and the feeling of this music and its aura are simply
possessing, cold and ghastly. I cannot even decide whether I prefer when Ljosazabojstwa
plays some slower motifs or rather play their music in faster, reckless way. The
first one awakes the darkest and most sick, morbid feelings, with almost epic,
monumental sound, while the latter gives you a killer dose of aggression and
merciless death. But the riffs are great, I also like the vocals, because
they’re more like harsh, nasty growl, rather than annoying screams, which would
destroy the whole effect.

The influences are wide, I
think, and they can start from the second and third Bathory opuses, going
through some old Mayhem, Mortuary Drape or Masters Hammer, then taking a sip of Greek and Finnish death / black metal sperm and topping it all with heavy, slowed down,
morbid death metal. Mix it all up in one filthy cauldron, add some sulphur and
tar, give it a good swirl and here you have – Ljosazabojstwa. I have to say
that “Staražytnaje licha” sounds just fuckin intriguing and even with its rawness
and sometimes almost primitive nature, this demo will not let you forget about
it. I personally have spent quite a huge amount of time listening to it. I have
no idea what the future plans of Ljosazabojstwa are, I don’t even know how many
people are involved in this band… but damn, I do hope that they will come up
with some more such possessing sounds rather sooner than later.